The mortality of gastrointestinal haemorrhage is approximately 10 per cent. The highest mortality rates are in patients over the age of 45 who continue to bleed, or in whom bleeding restarts while in hospital during medical treatment.
Surgery is advised in patients over the age of 45 under medical treatment in hospital in whom haemorrhage obviously continues or recurs, i.e. melaena or haematemesis, rising pulse or falling blood pressure. Transfusion of six or more units of blood is a reasonable threshold for further intervention.
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